


Cultural Exchange

by SumthinClever



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-11
Updated: 2020-02-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:01:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22657456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SumthinClever/pseuds/SumthinClever
Summary: A short work for #BlackWizardHistory Month 2020.Kamali is an exchange student from Uagadou.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	Cultural Exchange

**Author's Note:**

> Criteria: No more than 1,000 words. About a Black character or school. 
> 
> Black Girls Create: Write a short fic! It can be as short as a tweet!
> 
> Me: Spends hours researching random names and climates and locations across Africa and makes this fic hit the word count max to justify doing all that research. >.>

Kamali blew into her hands, walking to her Advanced Alchemy class. Sure, Hogwarts was climate-controlled, but Kamali couldn’t shake the chill from her bones while walking its halls. It was similar while at her home school of Uagadou, but at least the African school had more things to do in the cold. Hogwarts was terribly boring with barely a dueling club to speak of. The “Dumbledore’s Army” group Harry Potter began while fighting Voldy-What’s-It was long since merged into the regular dueling club. At least at home, Kamali could have used her free weekends to go hiking in the Rwenzori Mountains National Park. Some days, she couldn’t wait for this exchange year to end. 

Other days she absolutely adored Hogwarts. Scotland was so  _ green _ . There wasn’t much to do, but at least the place was gorgeous to look at. Not that Uagadou lacked its wonders, sitting high up in the mountains and looking as though it floated among the clouds. And the Mountains of the Moon themselves, when students were allowed to escape school walls, boasted tropical rainforests, alpine tundra, and snow to explore. 

What both schools seemed to lack was  _ sun _ . At home in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia, it often felt like there was nothing  _ but _ sun. But high up in the Ugandan mountains and in Scotland’s Highlands, it always felt like Kamali’s dark skin struggled to get enough light. 

Kamali walked into her Advanced Alchemy class right as Professor Elric was setting up. While Kamali was good at alchemy in general and taught by masters of the craft (and Uagadou was noted for producing students skilled in alchemy, astronomy, and transfiguration), Professor Elric was the best teacher she had ever seen. He never said much about his training or experiences before Hogwarts, but he brought a certain…life to the subject. 

Today they were practicing with details during transmutation. Kamali had changed her block of iron into the shape of a bird, working to get the lines right to make it recognizable as an African Pygmy Goose. It still wasn’t quite right by the time class ended, even though Professor Elric praised her efforts. 

Kamali made her way toward the kitchens for lunch. She usually sat in the Great Hall with whatever House table struck her fancy at the time, but some days she needed a taste of home. While academic and cultural interchange was the purpose of the exchange program, the Hogwarts menu was still entirely too European most days. Today, Kamali was seriously craving some berbere chicken curry. She was certain the house elves’ wouldn’t taste nearly as good as her mother’s, but she was willing to settle for now. 

Kamali spotted Ife, another Uagadou exchange student, walking with Asahi, an exchange student from Mahoutokoro. The Hogwarts exchange students were often found together, due to the shared experience of not being from here and the opportunity to complain about how things were so different from home. Most days found Kamali with Ife in the Hogwarts Black Student Union. As different as being from another school was, there was another level to being Black from another school. Though, clearly being Black even from Hogwarts was its own trial, given the BSU was purportedly started back in Harry Potter’s time by Hermione Granger and Blaise Zabini. 

Making friends at Hogwarts wasn't difficult, though. Kamali was the personable sort and through classes and study groups had amassed a collection of friends from every House, though she had been sorted into Ravenclaw for the year. 

She was glad the House rivalry wasn't like it apparently was years back. If students couldn't handle differences among their own classmates, an exchange from different countries would have undoubtedly failed. But from all reports, Hermione Granger wouldn't have it any other way her eighth year after that horrendous war was fought here. She helped quell the House rivalries while in school, then pushed for more international exchange than the Triwizard Tournament after she'd graduated and took a job in the British Ministry fighting for rights. 

After lunch found Kamali in Advanced Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall stepped down from being the Headmistress a few years back, but she still taught the upper-year Transfiguration students. 

McGonagall was getting on in age and could often be found as a cat napping in patches of Scotland's elusive sunlight. Kamali was certain McGonagall somehow magically enhanced the sunlight shining in through whatever window she happened to be perched within. Kamali was tempted to ask how she did it. 

Being the first one to class, Kamali once again found McGonagall in cat form, resting in a streak of sunlight in an expanded windowsill beside her desk. Kamali smiled and transformed herself, shifting into her serval cat form. 

Uagadou students, being especially skilled in self-transfiguration, were almost naturals at becoming animagi. As such, Kamali learned how to transform in her third year. This was a bit before the average of late fourth year and definitely before her twin brother Kadir, currently studying Advance Wand Theory and playing Quidditch as an exchange student at Mahoutokoro. Kamali never let Kadir live it in down and he never failed to grumble at her for it, even though his own Pharoah Eagle-Owl was a stunning creature. 

Kamali padded over to Professor McGonagall and purred, softly nuzzling her much larger head into the professor's. McGonagall opened her eyes, yawned and stretched before she purred back at Kamali in a show of recognition. Kamali stepped back and allowed McGonagall to hop down from her window and transform back into her human form. Kamali followed suit, though she kept her cat tail and ears. It always amused McGonagall to see them twitching during class.

Kamali struggled with transfiguration at Hogwarts unless on herself. Being forced to use a wand after years of pointing fingers and waving hands to direct magic was difficult. Still, Kamali excelled because she refused to do anything else.

After class, Kamali had a break before Advanced Astronomy that night. She was so. Ready. For. A. Nap. 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Happy Black Wizard History Month!
> 
> This feels a bit unfinished to me, so I may continue it eventually. But I hit my word limit, so I stopped. >.>


End file.
